The story of DeRidder goes something like this. In 1893, railroads were being built in the United States, and one of their builders was Mr. Stilwell. There was an international financial crisis that year, and Mr. Stilwell could not raise the $3 million needed to finish constructing a railroad from Kansas City down to the Gulf, about 800 miles. Since he could not raise the money in the United States, he decided to go to Europe for aid. He first tried England, but failed. He then went to Holland for assistance. He was at a loss while in Amsterdam, and then remembered a young coffee merchant he had met while on a previous trip to Europe with his wife. Mr. Stilwell went to the Coffee Exchange for their list of members, and found the name of the young merchant, Jan Dehouyen. Mr. Stilwell found Jan Dehouyen and told him about his plans for building the railroad in the United States. These plans intrigued Jan Dehouyen, so he raised the $3 million needed for this Kansas City Southern Railroad. Then Mr. Dehouyen decided to change careers from coffee to railroads, and traveled to the United States with Mr. Stilwell.

Jan Dehouyen kept an office in Amsterdam, Holland, and there was a map in his office showing Kansas City in the north and the Gulf in the south. Occasionally, Mr. Dehouyen would be asked to name a place, which might be of interest in the future, which was located along the railroad. Mr. Dehouyen had a sister-in-law named Ella DeRidder Dehouyen. She was a beautiful girl from Belgium, and was a favorite relative of Jan Dehouyen. He named our city “DeRidder”, in honor of his sister-in-law…”

There were 3,819 households out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.6% were married couples living together, 16.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.5% were non-families. 28.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.03.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.1% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 14.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 89.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,952, and the median income for a family was $39,384. Males had a median income of $36,388 versus $21,302 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,996. About 15.0% of families and 18.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.1% of those under age 18 and 18.2% of those age 65 or over…”

***I think that there may be an error because I don’t believe that she was buried in Greenlawn Cemetery. I’ll update this post when I find out the name of the place where she was really buried. Also, Walter and Johnny are really Leonia’s (Madea’s daughter’s) children. They were adopted by Madea and Papa Sonny long ago.***

Hazel Douresseau CHURCH POINT – Funeral services for Ms. Hazel P. Douresseau, 82, will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday in Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church here with burial in the church cemetery. The Rev. Butler will conduct the services. Ms. Douresseau, a resident of Church Point, died Saturday, January 15, 2000, in Lafayette General Hospital. Survivors include: four sons, Adam Douresseau of Los Angeles, Calif., Preston Douresseau, John Douresseau and Andrew Douresseau, all of Beaumont, Texas; five daughters, Barbara Douresseau of Church Point, Savelia Pete of Los Angeles, Calif., Elizabeth Wrighting, Mary Ramsey and Cecelia Joseph, all of Beaumont, Texas; three sisters, Sable Charlot of Church Point, Hilda Smith and Theresa Johnson, both of Beaumont, Texas; three brothers, Paul Pete of Los Angeles, Calif., Variant Pete of Beaumont, Texas, and Tee Rogers of Church Point; 42 grandchildren; 66 great-grandchildren; several great-great-grandchildren; and a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. Ms. Douresseau was preceded in death by her husband, Elijah Douresseau; and a son, Rufus Douresseau. Visiting hours will be observed from 8 a.m. Saturday until time of services in Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church in Church Point. Duhon Funeral Home of Church Point is in charge of arrangements.

I’ve had this page since I started blogging for the Enterprise, but I hadn’t planned on using it since I’m a noob at this blogging stuff. Instead of letting it sit here blank though, I think I’m going to start posting about my genealogical findings. Hell, I’m probably going to post random musings of mine, as well. Anyway, here I go…*takes a deep breath*